Response to airport decision

“Building another runway in the south east – whatever the location, whatever the conditions – would be a disaster for the country as well as the countryside. With official data yesterday showing the north-south divide is increasing, giving the go ahead to yet another runway in the south means giving up the ghost on the Northern Powerhouse. Not only that, south east airport development would take a huge segment out of London’s Green Belt. The Government would be betraying two of its core commitments in one fell swoop.

“Even though the Prime Minister appears to have moved from opposing a new runway with ‘no ifs, no buts’ to saying ‘yes with ifs and buts’, the likelihood of a runway being built in the south east remains as distant as ever. It’s time for us to move on and think of solutions, like high speed rail, beyond the narrow remit of the Airports Commission.”